A growing number of bands grant fans the privilege of freely trading some of their music, usually live recordings of their performances. See AboutEtreeOrg for how important this is to our community.

Every trade-friendly band has their own version of what that term means and how far it extends. Some artists formally allow both taping and trading (e.g., Grateful Dead >1984). Some artists formally or tacitly allow trading of tapes even if they or their management do not openly permit taping (e.g., Grateful Dead <1984). Some bands' policies are formally written up and posted on official websites; others are informal verbal understandings between band and fans that are kept in a sort of "oral tradition".

Noncommercial exchange is the most common element in bands' pro-trading policies. Most trade-friendly artists also draw clear lines between trading unreleased material vs. commercially released material. In all cases, please respect the wishes of the artists.

Here are some resources for checking on whether or not a band permits trading or taping, and to what degree:

TradingPolicies - Odds and ends of reports that either haven't yet made it into the above resources, or fall outside their scope.

"Our view has always been if the copyright holder wants to give away their product, it's fine. The key issue is that it's their choice to give it away." -Hilary B. Rosen, then-chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America, quoted in "Two Labels Warm Up to MP3's" by Bill Werde, The New York Times, May 29, 2003, p. G7.

"On balance, allowing taping was maybe the smartest business move we ever made." -Phil Lesh, Searching for the Sound: My Life with the Grateful Dead. New York: Little, Brown, 2005, p. 266.